Oakland Has Nation's Highest Robbery Rate, FBI Data Shows
OAKLAND (KPIX 5) -- As Oakland prepares to hear from law enforcement expert Bill Bratton about his recommendations to fight crime, new FBI numbers show the city has the highest robbery rate in the country.
The report will be released Wednesday and was prepared by a team of law enforcement consultants, including Bratton. It was commissioned by the city at a cost of $250,000. Mayor Jean Quan, Police Chief Howard Jordan and the Oakland City Administrator received the report early.
Initial recommendations from the report are expected to deal specifically with burglaries and robberies.
In the Oakmore neighborhood, where the mayor lives, no one is surprised at the FBI numbers.
"I don't know if it's an epidemic, if that is the right word, but that is how it feels," resident Jonathan Klein told KPIX 5.
Sandy Schletzke was among the victims during an uptick of break-ins in Oakmore in February. "They completely trashed the house," Schletzke recalled.
The problem has become so bad, that two months ago, 63 households hired private security guards to patrol their area daily. So far, it seems to be working.
"There have been no incidents of burglaries or attempted burglaries that we know of in our neighborhood to date," Klein said.
But not every neighborhood can afford that kind of protection, and those who cannot appear to be paying the price.
The Oakland Tribune analyzed the FBI's latest crime statistics and found that in 2012, there were 12 robberies a day in Oakland. In a city of about 400,000, that amounted to one robbery for every 91 residents.
"It's really sad," Klein said.
Some residents of East Oakland and Adams Point have taken to walking the streets themselves as part of Operation Ceasefire, the centerpiece of Police Chief Howard Jordan's anti-crime plan.
Quan told KPIX 5 on Tuesday night that she has not yet read Bratton's report and had no comment.
(Copyright 2013 by CBS San Francisco. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)
